National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation

NFS Form 10-900-b OMB No. 1024-0018 (Revised March 1992) RECEIVED 2280 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service JAN I999 National Register of Historic Places NAT. REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Multiple Property Documentation Form NATIONAL PARK SERVICE This form is used for documenting multiple property groups relating to one or several historic contexts. See Instructions In How to Complete the Multiple Property Documentation Form (National Register Bulletin 16B). Complete each Item by entering the requested Information. For additional space, use continuation sheets (Form 10-900-a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer to complete all Items.. X New Submission Amended Submission A. Name of Multiple Property Listing East Bank Multiple Property Listing B. Associated Historic Contexts (Name each associated historic context, identifying theme, geographical area, and chronological period for each.) Industrial Era Development in the East Bank, South Bend, Indiana 1867 - 1947 C. Form Prepared by name/title Camille B. Fife organization The Westerly Group, Inc date June 1997 street & number 556 W. 1175 N. Rd. telephone (812) 696-2415 city or town Farmersburg state Indiana Zip code 47850_____ D. Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this documentation form meets the National Register documentation standards and sets forth requirements for the listing of related properties consistent with the National Register criteria. This submission meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth In 36 CFR Part 60 and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation. (CD See continuation sheet for additional comments.) Signature a/a title cyicertifying official Date f State or Federal agency and bureau hereb^ertify that this multiote/property d been approved by the National Register as a basis for evaluating related listing in the National Regist *//?, /Signature of tPTe Keeper" / Date of [Action ' East Bank Multiple Property Listing , Indiana Name of Multiple Property Listing State Table of Contents for Written Narrative Provide the following Information on continuation sheets. Cite the letter and the title before each section of the narrative. Assign page numbers according to the Instructions for continuation sheets in How to Complete the-Multiple Property Documentation Form (National Register Bulletin 16B). Fill In page numbers for each section In the space below. Page Numbers E. Statement of Historic Contexts 1 (If more than one historic context Is documented, present them In sequential order.) F. Associated Property Types 25 (Provide description, significance, and registration requirements.) G. Geographical Data ^5 H. Summary of Identification and Evaluation Methods 36 (Discuss the methods used in developing the multiple property listing.) I. Major Bibliographical References 38 (List major written works and primary location of additional documentation: State Historic Preservation Office, other State agency, Federal agency, local government, university, or other, specifying repository.) Primary location of additional data: (J3 State Historic Preservation Office 0 Other State agency D Federal agency D Local government D University E Other Name of repository: So. Bend/St. Joseph County Historic Preservation Commission Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information Is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request Is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 efseo;.). Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 120 hours per response Includlna the time for forrn' ^ , ' Box 37127. Washin, DC 20013-7127; NFS Form 10-900-a 0MB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number _£————Page _J———— East Bank Multiple Property Listing St. Joseph County, Indiana E. Statement of Historic Context Industrial Era Development in the East Bank, South Bend, Indiana, 1867 - 1947 The City of South Bend gained fame in the late nineteenth and throughout much of the twentieth century for its industrial development. Probably the best known of its factories was the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, who produced first wagons, and then the well-known automobile until the 1960s. Other companies with national reputations included the Oliver Chilled Plow Works, Singer Manufacturing and the South Bend Lathe Company. For a city of its size, South Bend f s manufactories were notable. The genesis of this industrial development was, naturally, its location on the St. Joseph River and the available water power it promised. The East Bank paralleled the rest of South Bend's development, but was separate from the central business and industrial sector on the west side of the St. Joseph River. This important artery which provided an incentive for economic development, also served to divide the two parts of the city. Individuals and businesses thought of themselves in relation to the central city or to Lowell/East Bank; Those who clustered around the East Race, were distinctly different and dealt with different entrepreneurs than those located on the west side of the river. In the early years, inadequate ferry crossings made transportation between the two sides of the river extremely difficult. By the late 1880s this was improved by the construction of sturdy iron bridges at several points, including a railroad crossing, but these too had their limitations. Fully dependable communications and transportation links finally integrated east and west banks in the first part of the twentieth century, when wider, well-built concrete bridges with space for trolleys as well as automobiles, were in place. Nonetheless, political, economic and social differences distinguished the East Bank area some are still valid today. The East Race itself, for example, continues to be a prominent feature of the landscape, now used for recreational rather than economic purposes while the west race no longer exits. Most of the East Bank, after the town of Lowell was incorporated into the City of South Bend, was a unique political entity, the original Fourth Ward - as such it contained its own subunits and local leaders. Finally, because of the great western bend of the river which occurs just north of downtown South Bend, initial ties with the developing campus of Notre Dame in the north were much closer on the East NPS Forni 10-900-a 0MB Approval Afo, 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number JE————Page _J2——— East Bank Multiple Property Listing St. Joseph County, Indiana Bank (in terms of both direct property ownership and residents). Residents of the East Bank could travel via land to and from the campus, while those on the west bank were required to cross the river, either at one of the southern bridges, or in the north, across Michigan Street/Leeper Bridge (the present route). Some of the property in the northern section of the East Bank was originally developed by Notre Dame and many residents had strong social and cultural ties to the institution. Pre-Historv, Early Exploration and Settlement The earliest Europeans to explore northern Indiana were the French, looking for furs and other exportable commodities along water routes. Prior to their ventures in the late 17th Century, the land in the river valleys of the Great Lakes area was populated by Native-American peoples. (The earliest occupation of the Kankakee and St. Joseph River valleys may date to 10,000-8,000 B.C.) The river systems in the northern Indiana area were an active trading and transportation venue for the cultures of the Woodland and Mississippian Traditions (1000 B.C. to A.D. 1600.) By the 1600s, the Algonquian-speaking peoples called (by the French) the Miamis had moved down to the northern Indiana region from Wisconsin and Illinois. Later moving further south, they were followed by the Potawatomi, who became the most populous native culture in the region. They were encountered by early French travelers like Rene-Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle who ventured up the St. Joseph River from its effluence at Lake Michigan, to the present site of South Bend. To the south of this site, an ancient portage to the Kankakee offered a practical water route from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi. 1 Although the French established early trading posts in various parts of northern Indiana, development in the territory waned following their defeat in the French and Indian War. The British influence followed, but ceased after the colonial era. Only a few European traders and the Potawatomi were left to enjoy the rich benefits of these valleys until the second decade of the nineteenth century when American settlers ventured into the northern country from the southern part of the state where early settlement 1 City of South Bend Summary Report, Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Survey. Indianapolis/ South Bend: Indiana DNR, Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology, 1993, p. 29. NFS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number JE————Page -3——— East Bank Multiple Property Listing St. Joseph County, Indiana had concentrated. The Miamis and the Potowatomies had title to most of the land along the northern tier, according to treaties of 1795 and later. When Indiana became a state in 1816, fur trading companies had been operating in the South Bend area for nearly a decade, attracted by the river access. But in 1820, when Pierre Navarre built a trading post at the South Bend of the St.

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